Author: Journal of Applied Ecology

Careers, Coastal and marine, Research summaries

Abigail Keller: Managing a marine invasive species in a changing world

Shortlisted for the 2025 Southwood Prize About the research Overview When should an environmental manager stop resisting change and accept a new ecological trajectory? This question will become a hallmark of natural resource management under global climate change, particularly for a marine invasive species like the European green crab. While this crab species can drive profound ecological change, it can quickly recolonize after removal, leaving many … Continue reading Abigail Keller: Managing a marine invasive species in a changing world

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Careers, Forests, Research summaries

Xiaoling Wang: Using forest inventory and LiDAR observations to uncover plant traits cooling and humidifying effects

Shortlisted for the 2025 Southwood Prize About the research Overview Our paper investigates how to maximize the cooling effect of urban forests. We wanted to know whether a tree’s leaf traits (like nutrient content) are more important than its physical structure (like canopy size) for reducing air temperature and increasing humidity in cities. By combining traditional forest surveys with advanced LiDAR technology in Shanghai, we sought … Continue reading Xiaoling Wang: Using forest inventory and LiDAR observations to uncover plant traits cooling and humidifying effects

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Careers, Journal news, The Applied Ecologist community

Southwood Prize 2025: Shortlist announced for early career researcher award

Journal of Applied Ecology awards the annual Southwood Prize to the best paper in the journal by an author at the start of their research career. We are excited to share the following 14 papers which have been shortlisted for the 2025 award following their publication in the 62nd volume of the journal. Taylor Craft with ‘Remote sensing and GPS tracking reveal temporal shifts in habitat use in … Continue reading Southwood Prize 2025: Shortlist announced for early career researcher award

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Careers, Journal news

Welcoming our 2026 Associate Editor Mentees!

Journal of Applied Ecology offers a two‑year mentoring scheme that helps early career researchers build practical experience as Associate Editors. Each mentee works closely with a Senior Editor and benefits from ongoing support from the Editorial Office. By handling journal submissions, mentees get a front‑row view of peer review and academic publishing more broadly. We’re excited to introduce seven new Associate Editor mentees who are … Continue reading Welcoming our 2026 Associate Editor Mentees!

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Plain language summaries, Research summaries

Dirt to the rescue: Using sediment to restore evolving saltmarshes in the subtropics

Coastal wetlands such as saltmarshes and mangrove forests provide benefits including storm protection and fisheries support to millions of people around the world. Yet, these habitats are changing rapidly as sea levels rise and temperatures warm, especially in areas affected by both of these stressors at the same time. In the subtropics, for example, saltmarshes are deteriorating from sea level rise while also transitioning to … Continue reading Dirt to the rescue: Using sediment to restore evolving saltmarshes in the subtropics

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Plain language summaries, Research summaries

Insect farming can repeat the invasion mistakes of aquaculture – unless we act early

Insect farming is often promoted as a sustainable alternative to conventional livestock, with the potential to reduce land use, emissions, and pressure on natural resources. However, scaling up any food production system also carries environmental risks. In this study, we show that one important risk – biological invasions caused by escaped farmed species – has received far too little attention in the rapidly growing insect … Continue reading Insect farming can repeat the invasion mistakes of aquaculture – unless we act early

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Plain language summaries, Research summaries

Plant mixture effects on soil nitrogen cycling

We conducted a global synthesis using paired observations of plant mixtures and corresponding monocultures to determine the long-term effects of plant diversity on soil N pools and N transformations. Our findings demonstrate that plant mixtures improve the sustainability of nitrogen cycling and reduce N2O emissions in the long term. We suggest that the conservation and restoration of terrestrial plant diversity should be designated as a … Continue reading Plant mixture effects on soil nitrogen cycling

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Plain language summaries, Research summaries

Bringing back birds to Mediterranean heathlands one cut and one burn at a time

For centuries, the heathlands of Tuscany in north-central Italy were used to graze livestock and to harvest heather for making brooms (the old witch-style ones) and other wares. These traditional land-use practices maintained perfect habitat for birds like the woodlark and tawny pipit – specialists of open and shrubby habitats. But here, and throughout Europe, birds that depend on open habitats like heathlands and grasslands … Continue reading Bringing back birds to Mediterranean heathlands one cut and one burn at a time

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What happens belowground when invasive species are controlled?

A better understanding of what happens belowground when restoring coastal vegetation may be useful to better plan restoration. However, little is known about what happens belowground when invasive species are controlled in restoration settings. My students and I used a protected area of sandy coastal vegetation in an island in Southern Brazil as a model to investigate belowground dynamics in plant communities under restoration. These … Continue reading What happens belowground when invasive species are controlled?

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Research summaries, Plain language summaries

How climate change affects carbon storage in Mediterranean pine forests

Reforestation is widely promoted as a way to mitigate climate change by capturing carbon from the atmosphere. However, its real success depends on how trees invest (allocate) the carbon they capture, that is, how much they invest to grow leaves, stems or roots, particularly under warmer and drier conditions. In this study, we analysed how climate affects carbon allocation in large-scale pine reforestations across the … Continue reading How climate change affects carbon storage in Mediterranean pine forests

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